Police investigating after teen found dead of apparent overdose in apartment of man she barely knew
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (KDKA) — An investigation is underway after a 15-year-old girl was found dead of an apparent overdose in the apartment of a man she barely knew.
It's the tragic story of a young girl who fell through the cracks. Police said Kazyiah Thomas had been roaming the streets when she wandered into the Dollar General store in McKeesport, where she met a store worker. She went to his apartment and died just hours later.
"There was no one watching over her and she ended up in the care of someone who didn't really know her," said Angela Tobusto. "And she ended up taking an overdose and dying. It's tragic."
Police are questioning but have not charged the man while they await a toxicology report from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office to determine how Thomas died, what kind of drugs she ingested and where she got them.
Her aunt says she confronted the man, who told her he is a person recovering from addiction on the drug Suboxone.
"I wanted to know why was my young, 15-year-old niece in his apartment," said the girl's aunt, Angel Jackson. "We don't know you."
But Jackson says her niece, who was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, led a troubled life from the start.
"She wasn't raised by her mother or father," Jackson said. "She was raised by my grandmother."
But when her grandmother died five years ago, Thomas was passed around and eventually ended up in Jackson's custody in McKeesport. She stayed with her for about a year and enrolled in McKeesport Area High School, but then the two had a fight. Police were called and Children, Youth and Family Services took custody of the child.
"I believe everybody needs to be held accountable," Jackson said. "I feel like this got out of control."
Citing confidentiality, CYF declined to comment, but Jackson said once put in temporary shelter, Thomas never stayed and roamed around the city of Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley. However, she says there wasn't enough effort to find her, saying she never saw a missing person's report filed or broadcast.
"Everybody failed her," Jackson said. "The system failed her."
While Jackson blames the system, she doesn't spare herself or her family from blame. She said she only wanted her niece to be safe.